KABUL: Taliban appointed Afghanistan prime minister Hassan Akhund urged Muslim countries on Wednesday to be the first to formally adopt the Taliban government, as the country relies on aid is facing a recession.
No country still recognizes the Taliban, many are watching to see how this group – accused of human rights abuses during its tenure – restricted freedom.
Although the group has promised a softer law in line with its definition of Islamic Sharia, women are less likely to be included in government employment and girls’ high schools are severely closed.
“I urge Muslim countries to lead and respect us legally. “Then I hope we can make rapid progress,” Mohammad Hassan Akhund said at a conference in Kabul called on to address the country’s biggest economic crisis.
“We do not want officials. We want it for our community, ”he said, adding that the Taliban had met all the requirements for restoring peace and security.
Afghanistan is facing a humanitarian crisis, exacerbated by the Taliban occupation in August that forced Western countries to suspend international aid and access billions of dollars worth of goods stored abroad.
The country has almost completely relied on foreign aid under the former US-backed government, but jobs have dried up and most government workers have not been paid for months.
On Wednesday, the International Labor Organization said half a million Afghan people would lose their jobs by the third quarter of 2021, and this is expected to rise to 900,000 by the middle of the year – with women being unduly affected.
As poverty increases and the drought ravages agriculture in many areas, the United Nations has warned that half the population of 38 million people will suffer from malnutrition.
The UN Security Council last month unanimously approved the US decision to allow certain aid to reach Afghan people in despair without violating international sanctions.